Ren Joe

Kia ora tātou,

Ko Pirongia te maunga

Ko Waipā te awa

Ko Tūheitia te tangata

Ko Tainui te waka

Ko Waikato - Maniapoto ngā iwi

Ko Ngāti Mahanga - Hourua ngā hapū

Ko Te Papa o Rotu te tūpuna marae 

Kei Ōtara e noho ana

Ko Gilbert rāua ko Tricia oku mātua

Ko Lauren Aneeka Joe toku ingoa

I whakapapa to Waikato Tainui and Guangzhou, China on my Dads side. And to County Cork, Ireland; to Brač, Croatia and to Lebanon on my Mums side. I realise how lucky I am, to have travelled to all of these places except for Lebanon. I hope to make it there someday! For now, I live in Ōtara with my partner Malcolm and our very naughty (but cute) puppy Charlie.

I started my involvement with this community when I was about 15 years old and my sister Tara would drag me along to community events when I would only come in case there was going to be boys there… Nandita invited (or told) me to become a Change Agent in 2017. Since lockdown 2020, I have been honoured to be the Leader for Change.

I love the HEART Movement because of the incredible structures that were put in place before my time. I love the no judgement, no advice spaces and how everyone is warmly welcomed. I love how we can do (almost) whatever we want! And I love that I don’t have to make decisions, because being community-led, means the community makes all the decisions!

I love our colourful, crazy community. I love the Change Agents and the passion they have for our kaupapa. And I truly love my team and what we’ve achieved so far. I have a lot of love! Every day I feel super grateful to be able to do this work and am so excited for the possibilities before us. I truly believe I have the best job in the whole world. 

In my “spare time”, I’m a Refugee Resettlement Volunteer with the Red Cross so am always looking for random donations to make houses homes… and am also an Independent Celebrant, so hit me up if you want to get married! 

Words of advice? 
Treat others how you’d like to be treated, and just be a good person.